There are many situations where a party's true identity needs to be verified and authenticated. A typical example of such a situation is during a financial transaction, such as when one party, the buyer, is purchasing some merchandise from another party, the seller. When the buyer wishes to pay for the merchandise with a credit card, the seller may wish to verify that the buyer's true identity matches the name on the credit card before making a charge on the credit card. On the other hand, before giving the seller his credit card or credit card number to pay for the merchandise, the buyer may also wish to verify the seller's true identity, especially when the purchase is made remotely, such as over the telephone or on the Internet. As another example, when two people meet for the first time, such as at a social function, and introduce themselves to each other, each person may wish to verify the other person's identity to ensure that the other person is indeed who he says he is before further developing a social relationship with the other person and perhaps divulging personal information to the other person.